LATIN AMERICA / Drug Ring Dismantled By DEA, Medellin Police

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, November 2, 2000

2000-11-02 04:00:00 PDT Bogota, Colombia -- Colombian police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday that they have arrested 49 people and dismantled a major international cocaine and heroin smuggling network.

The Medellin-based organization shipped 13.5 tons of drugs to the United States, authorities said.

Officials said the suspects belonged to a network of four organizations coordinated by a 40-year-old Medellin-based trafficker, Carlos Mario Castro- Arias. Five other suspects were arrested yesterday in the United States -- three in New Jersey, one in New York and one in Miami.

More than 1,000 police participated in the operation to arrest the suspects. More than $2 million in cash was seized, along with apartments, homes and cars.

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